Improvement in knitting-machines



UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES YV. BLAKESLEE, CF NOR'EHFIELD, ASSIGNOR TO NATHANIEL /VHEELER, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT;

IMPROVEMENT IN KNl'l'TlNG-MACHINES.l

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 14.365, dated September 20, 1864.

To @ZZ whom t 71mg/ concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. BLAKEs- LEE, ot' Northfield, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circular- Knitting Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ot' the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a plan view ofthe needle-plate, needles, and sinkers of a machine illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is a central vertical sec- T tion of a machine complete with the exception ot the stand. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the needles and one ot' the sinkers, showing the manner in which they are combined. Fig. 4 is an inverted plan of the adjustable needle-operating cam and sinker-adjuster.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object ot` my invention is to afford facility for what is termed narrowing and widening77 lthe work in circular-knitting machines by bringing the parts nearer to or far ther from the center ot' the machine and by reducing and increasing the number of loops in the circular courses.

rlhe invention consists, principally, in the employment, in a circular-.knitting machine, of separately adjustable sinkers so applied in combination with the needles as to provide for their being set nearer to or farther from the center of the machine and t'or the removal of any number of them at pleasure.

It also consists in making the needle-operating cam adjustable for bringing the needles nearer to or farther from the center ot' the machine, and in a device for adjusting the siukers in a larger or smaller circle.

VIt'urtherconsists in so combining the needleoperating cam, the device for adjusting the sinkers nearer to or farther from the center of the machine, the yarn-conductor, and the rotary pressing-burr that they are all adjustable together toward and from the center ot' t-h machine.

A is the circular needle-plate, having radial grooves a a in its face for the reception of the .t straight shanksbbof the sinkcrsce. The sinkers are ofthe kind commonly used in those circularli hitting machinesin which stationary sinkers are employed, and are made each in thesame piece with its respective shank, or otherwise rigidly secured thereto. The Shanks are fitted te move lengthwise in the grooves a a, and their upper sides are grooved longitudinally for the reception of the needles d d, which are fitted to slide freely therein toward and from the center of the machine. The needles which I propose generally to employ are those ot' the latched kind. The needles have the rear or outer ends of their shanks turned up, as shown at e, to enter the groove fot' the cam B, by which the operation of the needles is produced 5 and the sinker-shanks have secured in them or formed upon them beyond the needle-Shanks upright pins g, to enter a groove, h, in the sinker-adjuster C, which is formed in the same piece with the cam B. The said cam andsinkeradjuster are both secured to a slide, D, which is fitted into a radially-arranged j'iarallel-sided cavity, t', provided in the under side ot' the rotatingeircularplate E,which covers the needleplate. This plate E is made with a deep rim,j, which laps over the edge ofthe needleplate, and it is held down closely upon the needle-plate by means ot' two or more screws, lr, screwing through the rim j and entering a groove, l, in the edge of the needle-plate. This plate E serves both to conne the needleshanks in the grooves oi" the sinker-shanks, and to con tine the sinker-shanks inthe grooves rt of the needle-plate, but it does not interfere with the longitudinal movements of the needles or sinkers. The lower edge of the rim j ot' the said plate E is cogged to gear with a bevel-gear, F, on the driving-shaft G ot' the machine.

H is the rotary pressing-burr, and l is the yarn-conductor, both attached to arigid stock, J, which is tirmly secured to the slide l), hereinbet'ore mentioned, to which the needle-operating cam and the sinker-adjuster are secured. This slide l) has a screw, L, so litted to it within the plate E that by turning the said screw by a knob, L', provided on it outside ot' the plate, the said slide, and with it the needleoperating' cam, the sinker-adjuster, the burr, and the yarn-conductor, are adjusted toward and from the center of the machine.-

The form of the groove f in the needle-0perating cam is substantially the same as in other circular-lvnitting` machines in which the needles have a longitudinal movement.

The groove h in the suiker-adjuster has both its inner and outer sides of an arc form, as shown in Fig. 1, but the radius of its outer side is so much greater than that of the inner one that the groove is somewhat wider at both ends than at the middle of its length, as shown in Fig. 4, the object of which is to enable the said groove to receive the pins g g as it comes round to them after the adjuster C has been moved nearer to or farther from the center. The centers of the two arcs are on the same radial line passing through the center of the plate E and the length ot' their .radii such that when set at an average distance from the center of the plate they will be nearly concentric therewith.

In the operation of the machine the needles have a movement toward and from the center of the machine, as in other circular-knitting machines, but the sinlers are not intended to have any movement except for the adjustment of the machine for knitting on a circle of larger or smaller circumference, when needles, sinkers, burr, and yarn-conductor are all moved together by the screw L, as before described. The sinkers are severally held stationary during the greater portion of the revolution of the machine merely by their friction in the grooves a a, as they are not subject to any considerable pressure except while the knitting is taking place on their respective needles, when they are held firmly in place by the reception of their pins or projections g in the groove h of the adjuster. When the points y are shifted by means of the screw L to reduce l the circumference ofthe circle of the knitting, l or, as it is termed, to narrow,7 the shifting is l always gradual, and never so great but that l the widening of the ends of the groove h, as shown in Fig. 4, will enable it to receive the pins or projections g of the sinkers, and that a substantially similar widening of the ends of the groove in the needle-operating cam will enable the said groove to receive the projections e of the needleshanks without fail.

By removing the plate A any number ofthe needles, with their respective sinkers, are permitted to be taken out of the machine and replaced whenever desired.

Before removing a needle upon which the work remains the loop should bc taken from it and put onto the next needle on either side.

hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The employment, in a circular-knitting machine, of separately-movin g sinlters, so applied in combination with the adjustable needles as to provide for their being brought severally nearer to or farther from the center of the machine, substantially as herein specified, for the purpose of widcnin g or narrowing, as set forth.

2. Fitting the needles into grooves in the shanks ofthe sinkers, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified. v

3. The grooved sinker-adjuster C, applied to operate substantially as and for the purpose herein described, in combination with projections g on the sinkers.

4. So eombininfr the needle-operating cam, the sinkeradjuster, the yarn-conductor, and the rotary burr that all are adjustable together toward or from the center of the machine, substantially as herein set forth.

CHARLES WV. BLAKESLEE. Witnesses:

ANNIE GiDniNGs, Lewis F. Bunns. 

